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Well I have been dealing with a back injury for 19 months now with weakness and numbness of the legs. I have had an emg of both legs with positive results for permanent nerve damage. I have multiple level disc problems and stenosis. About a year into therapy my left arm went numb and I began dropping things. My ortho dr said it had nothing to do with my back so sent me to an orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed me with carpal tunnel and wanted to do surgery. I decided against it as I was still dealing with my legs and back in therapy. After a year and a half of therapy two failed attempts at shots in back my dr decided it was time to try surgery on back. While I was at the back surgeons he asked me about my reflexes. They are extremely active. I said I didn't know how long they had been like that. He then asked about numbness anywhere else and I explained my left arm and my hand. He stated he would like to send me to a neurologist before we do anything. Everything now has been a whirlwind. I have had an MRI of my neck which showed two herniated discs in my neck, an emg of both arms and hands and then tonight a brain mri. The tech said the results would be in tomorrow. I have an appointment on Friday. My tspine does have two lesion. Cervical does not have any. I am 45 yrs old and have never had any issues prior to injury. I guess I am worried that I am going to be dealing with a whole new world come Friday. Has anyone ever had disc herniation problems that led to finding ms?

hi and welcome

it's a pain in the butt but there are not really any hard and fast rules with ms.

personally i had a bulging disk. not herniated. my neuro said i had a ratty neck for my age. they said nothing they could see going on in my neck would be causing my physical issues.

all that said, i did end up with an ms dx - but that is a whole other story. there are many different paths to a similar list of signs and symptoms. you'll probably find common ground with some and not with others. it sucks but uncertainty is often the name of the game. even if you have 'clinically definite ms" there are still many question marks.

at least you can take comfort in the fact that if it is ms or similar, nothing is normally going to be life or death urgent. it certainly does feel that way in early days! it's just not a penicillin-y magic bullet kind of situation though.

i would strongly recommend reading some smart health and wellness info, to help balance out any focused reading on defining and aligning your situation with ms or another illness. try to stay positive!